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Home » NewsProtesters’ tryst with Acting President
Protesters stormed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office on Wednesday and occupied it, demanding he should resign. Once inside, some of them switched on a television set only to see Mr. Wickremesinghe addressing the nation as Acting President Pic by Sandun Jayawardana
Four contestants for Wednesday’s presidential poll in Parliament
Ranil, Sajith, Dullas and Anura Kumara vie for the post, amid heavy canvassing among different parties Ruling SLPP split; SLFP says it won’t support any candidate; TNA to decide on Tuesday With the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa this week, four candidates are in the field already so far to take his seat for the [...]
Gotabaya Govt. got early warnings about economic crisis
From early 2020–just months after former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election–Finance Ministry officials started informing the Cabinet about Sri Lanka’s dire financial situation and warned it would worsen to at least a 50 percent decline in both exports and remittances, documents obtained by the Sunday Times show. In one Cabinet memorandum, dated May 13, 2020, the [...]
Ranil initiates process to pardon Ranjan
The Justice Ministry is looking at means by which former parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake can be granted a pardon, after Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe gave directions to initiate the process. Mr Ramanayake is serving sentences for contempt of court. Authoritative sources said the process for a presidential pardon—which is usually lengthy—will be initiated. The Supreme Court [...]
Special bank accounts for Colombo Port City; transactions in foreign currency only
By Namini Wijedasa The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has authorised a special class of bank account called the Colombo Port City Investment Account (CPCIA) exclusively to carry out business in the Chinese-built Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Directives were issued to all banks in Sri Lanka in relation to two types of CPCIAs—investor and [...]
National Fuel Pass system gets underway
By Niranjala Ariyawansha A National Fuel Pass system was announced yesterday, but implementation of the scheme may take a few more days, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara announced. Hours after the registration began at fuelpass.gov.lk a large number of persons had registered. The Minister warned that in the initial stages people would experience difficulties [...]
Dwindling crowd at protest site
Yesteday’s pictures of the protest site at the Galle Face Green were a far cry from those that showed a sea of heads and jubilant mood from last Saturday.
Navy finds body of seven year old boy attacked by crocodile
The body of the seven-year-old school boy who was dragged away by a crocodile on Friday at Bindunuwewa in Kandalama was discovered in a hole more than twenty feet deep by the Sri Lanka Navy. The search operation to find the young boy’s body was carried out for nearly 11 hours by the Sri Lanka [...]
At least 50 identified for vandalism and violence in this week’s protests; one flees overseas
Tight security around Parliament area next week At least 50 people have been identified as those responsible for causing damages in the President’s House, Presidential Secretariat, Temple Trees, the Prime Minister’s office, for the burning of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence in Colombo 05 and for causing violence near the Parliament. A senior Police officer said [...]
Former President blames COVID-19 for worsening economic woes
Says ready to offer the country his fullest support in the future Resignation letter read out to MPs by Parliament’s Secretary General Dhammika Dasanayake By Sandun Jayawardana Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday said that the COVID-19 pandemic is to blame for worsening an economic crisis that had been brewing for many years. In his [...]
Protest Wednesday forays: The conquest and the clashes
By Sandun Jayawardana Initially, the mood at “Gota Go Gama” (GGG) in Galle Face was upbeat on the morning of Wednesday (13) as news filtered in that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had fled the country on a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) aircraft headed for the Maldives. By 8 a.m., a large crowd had already gathered [...]
US urges China debt relief for Lanka following Beijing’s Zambia role
By Kapila Bandara The United States is nudging China, the largest bilateral creditor to Sri Lanka, to help restructure the Chinese debt of the bankrupt country now convulsing from social and political unrest. Anger has boiled over into turmoil. Recklessly, the recalcitrant Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna-led Government waited for a default to plead for [...]
FMM condemns unethical breaching of Rupavahini Corporation
The Free Media Movement (FMM) issuing a press release recently, condemned the recent incident involving a group of protestors who stormed into the building of the Sate owned Rupavahini Corporation and suspended its broadcast. The protesters had demanded the television channel run only news related to anti-government protests and entertainment programmes. The media content that [...]
Act responsibly, Blood Bank can’t cope with emergency
By Reka Tharangani Fonseka The National Blood Transfusion Service also known as the blood bank is not in a position to cope with an emergency situation involving a large number of casualties, director Dr. Lakshman Edirisinghe said, pleading with the public to avoid such an eventuality. Stating that the institute currently maintained a stock of [...]
Officials betting on fuel for school resumption
By Chrishanthi Christopher The Education Ministry has decided to resume all schools next week. However, it will not be on Monday as scheduled but on Thursday, Ministry Secretary M. N. Ranasinghe said. He said all schools countrywide will resume when the political situation returns to normalcy. He hopes the fuel distribution will improve and public [...]
Renew student insurance scheme, teachers’ union urges Govt.
The Ceylon Teachers Union has called on the authorities to renew the Suraksha insurance scheme to provide insurance cover to 4.2 million school children. It is learnt that the programme has come to an abrupt halt because of the economic crisis in the country. CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said the Education Ministry had failed [...]
No nutritious meals for vulnerable school children
Save the Children Sri Lanka has said the closure of schools for the past three weeks has deprived children from economically vulnerable families from receiving a decent nutritious meal every day. The non-profit organisation said in its website that its ‘food for education’ programme implemented in 887 schools in seven chosen districts has come to [...]
Gas deliveries get rolling, but long wait in provinces
By Chrishanthi Christopher State-owned Litro Gas said this week that 70,000 cooking gas cylinders a day will be distributed to dealers across the country. Litro has 42 dealers countrywide. It is estimated that 100,000 cooking gas cylinders are needed each day. The next shipment will carry 3,000 metric tonnes. The government has ordered 100,000 MT [...]
Poultry farms struggling without feed, industry says
By Yoshitha Perera Sri Lanka’s poultry farmers are alarmed that animal feed production in the country is only enough for one month and imports should resume. There is a shortage of cereal grain and corn, in the country. From March to June, the production of broiler meat decreased by 30% to 12,000 metric tonnes a [...]
Visitors eager to come, but uncertainty and unrest make them think twice
By Renishka Fernando A prominent hotel in Negombo had 35 rooms booked from July 13 to 20 for an international sporting event. But, the event was cancelled because of the turmoil in the country. Suresh Weerasuriya, the owner and managing director of the hotel, also has another tourist hotel in Colombo offering six rooms with [...]
Passengers in a tight spot due to the fuel crisis; fewer buses on the roads
Over crowded public transport now the norm, as many hang off foot boards for their lives and livelihoods By Sohan Vipulananda The people continue to face inconveniences while using public transport. Some people have to walk to their offices, others ride bicycles and some travel in overcrowded buses or trains. The imposition of a sudden [...]
Three-wheelers not for hire, while regulation stays in cold
By Yoshitha Perera Neeta Gunasekara, 65, wanted to go back to the cooking gas queue in Piliyandala where she had left an LPG cylinder, but hailing a taxi, or a three-wheeler, became a challenge. “I returned home after leaving the empty cooking gas cylinder in the queue. Two weeks later, I received a call from [...]
Archaeologists mourn vandalism at President’s House, Temple Trees
By Kasun Warakapitiya The historic President’s House, well over 200 years old, was at the centre of international attention this week after tens of thousands of protesters stormed the building last Saturday, occupied it and opened it for public view. The occupiers eventually left the stately building on Thursday evening, but a trail of destruction [...]
Businesses hopeful that stable economic solution will be on the horizon
By Tharushi Weerasinghe With President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation, business owners are hoping that the political crisis will soon subside and allow the Government to focus on the economic crisis. “We are happy that at least now a process is in place for a new President to be elected,” said Ceylon Chamber of Commerce CEO Manjula [...]
Doctor dies due to suspected petrol poisoning
By our Galle correspondent Sirangika Lokukaravita A doctor at Peradeniya Sirimavo Bandaranaike Children’s Hospital has died while undergoing ECMO surgery at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital amid suspicion that an incident of sucking petrol through a pipe may have contributed to his death. The 30-year-old deceased was Tennakoon Mudiyanselage Chintaka Deepal Amarasooriya. Postmortem tests had revealed [...]